The Villainous Film Empress (8)
A little rich girl dedicated to saving the world X A paranoid, dark, and vengeful film empress
In the end, Song Xuyi dazedly accepted the New Year’s money.1
That night, she had another dream.
The dream seemed to be one of her own memories, yet it also felt like a hazy dreamscape. In the darkness, she tightly gripped a pair of hands, drawing strength from them while also trying to pass on her own courage. “We both have to keep fighting. Everything will get better…”
The next day, Song Xuyi woke up to the System’s praise: “Xuyi, Happy New Year! On this first day of the new year, congratulations on advancing your mission progress again…”
Song Xuyi was a little confused by the System’s sudden congratulations until she belatedly remembered what had happened after she drank last night.
She had shown Zhao Qingyu the fireworks. Zhao Qingyu had smiled, a smile more beautiful than any before. And in that moment, Song Xuyi was done for, completely lost in that beauty…
Recalling how she must have looked, Song Xuyi wished she could crawl into a hole and disappear. She was almost certain that if Zhao Qingyu had told her to jump off a building right then, she would have scurried over and done it…
But Zhao Qingyu had only coaxed her into accepting the ‘New Year’s money’ she had sent, expressed her gratitude for Song Xuyi’s persistence in ‘checking in’2 all this time, and finally, happily declared that their relationship had changed from one between a fan and her idol to that of friends.
If a sober Song Xuyi had been present, she definitely would have noticed something was off. But the Song Xuyi of that moment had been utterly bewitched by Zhao Qingyu’s smile. She had agreed without a second thought. When Zhao Qingyu had asked with a half-smile, “Xuyi won’t regret this tomorrow, will you?” her head had gotten hot, and she had sent Zhao Qingyu a paragraph of solemn, sworn promises—
【I, Song Xuyi, am exceptionally willing to become Qingyu-jie’s friend. From now on, I will remember to care for Qingyu-jie every day, share my daily life with Qingyu-jie, and be Qingyu-jie’s fan for a lifetime…】
Looking at this promise she had sent out at the very start of the new year, Song Xuyi’s intestines were turning green with regret.3 For a fleeting moment, she even wanted to move to a different world.
It was just too humiliating!
She refused to believe that Zhao Qingyu couldn’t tell she was drunk last night, yet Zhao Qingyu had still cunningly coaxed her into making such a vow.
What on earth was she trying to do?
Song Xuyi really couldn’t guess Zhao Qingyu’s intentions.
However, the words were already sent. Song Xuyi could only follow through on her promise.
This was the first day of being ‘required to check in’ as Zhao Qingyu’s friend. What should she send her?
Song Xuyi was too embarrassed to treat Zhao Qingyu as a ‘tree hollow’4 anymore. She thought for a long time before finally arranging for someone to donate all the red envelopes she had received the day before in Zhao Qingyu’s name.
Song Xuyi took a photo of the donation certificate and sent it to Zhao Qingyu, then searched online for a bit of chicken soup for the soul.5
【Qingyu-jie, a gift for you in the new year.】
【Giving brings people joy. Kindness and sincerity are the most precious qualities. May Qingyu-jie always be kind and sincere. [pleasant]】
After sending it, Song Xuyi ground her back teeth. I hope this treacherous villain can experience the joy of doing good deeds and lay down her butcher’s knife, abandoning evil for good!
After sending the message, Song Xuyi was whisked away by her parents to make New Year’s visits.6 The Song family had numerous relatives and a complicated, tangled web of relationships, so they split into two groups. Her two older brothers took one route, while Song Xuyi went with her parents.
Song Xuyi didn’t understand the elders’ business dealings, so she stood aside and acted as a well-behaved facade doll. Other than greeting people and smiling, she rarely spoke.
However, this version of Song Xuyi, so different from previous years, was a huge hit with the elders. More than one family hinted at introducing her to high-quality potential partners.
Whenever the topic came up, Song Xuyi would smile and decline. “There’s no need. I’m still young.”
“Right now, all I can think about is studying…”
Beside her, Father and Mother Song’s expressions were complicated, and they didn’t chime in to help her.
On the way back, her parents’ spirits were clearly lower. They looked at Song Xuyi, wanting to speak but stopping short.
“Dad, Mom, I really have no intention of dating right now,” Song Xuyi had to take the initiative. She felt a little sad inside, but her face was a picture of innocence. “If I can’t get married in the future, you can’t despise me for being an old maid…”
“What are you talking about—”
Father Song remained silent. Mother Song’s gaze fell on the red birthmark on Song Xuyi’s wrist. Though her words were a light scolding, she almost couldn’t hold back the tears in her eyes.
Song Xuyi sighed internally and simply had the driver take them to a movie theater.
It was difficult to book a private screening at a movie theater on the First Day of the New Year,7 but Father and Mother Song weren’t people who cared about appearances. They bought movie tickets and went inside with Song Xuyi.
After the lights dimmed, Song Xuyi clearly heard faint sobs from beside her. Father Song patted Mother Song’s shoulder, comforting her silently. Song Xuyi glanced over before looking away, pretending she hadn’t seen anything as she began to watch the movie with ‘rapt attention’.
On the screen, Zhao Qingyu was both familiar and strange.
The female lead played by Zhao Qingyu was originally the doted-on little shimei8 of a declining sect. Unexpectedly, the sect was massacred overnight by masked assailants. Her childhood sweetheart shixiong9 died tragically while protecting her. The female lead grew up in a single night, vowing to uncover the truth of the massacre and avenge her loved ones.
As the little shimei, Zhao Qingyu’s smile was innocent and happy, which made Song Xuyi think of the photo on Zhao Qingyu’s WeChat profile. She wondered what Zhao Qingyu’s childhood was like, and whether she had been that happy.
It wasn’t that Song Xuyi hadn’t considered investigating Zhao Qingyu’s background privately. After all, a person’s character is inextricably linked to their family, environment, and society. In the plot, Zhao Qingyu had schemed for years to frame the male lead, Song Jun. It was highly likely related to her family.
However, Father and Mother Song kept a very close eye on her. If Song Xuyi tried to have someone investigate Zhao Qingyu, it would probably attract their attention. Besides, Zhao Qingyu was extremely vigilant; investigating her would be easily detected.
Thus, Song Xuyi had given up on the idea.
The movie continued.
From discovering her parents’ true identities to realizing that the one who killed her loved ones was the reigning emperor, the female lead experienced a series of betrayals and setbacks, surviving by a hair’s breadth. Gazing into the abyss, she eventually became the abyss herself. With great power in her hands, she killed the emperor and took his supreme position. Yet, many years later, she faced the same choice as the emperor before her: her loyal ministers and good generals held a secret that could overturn the entire nation. To kill or not to kill?
The movie stopped abruptly at this point.
In the final shot, the heavy palace doors closed. The female lead’s gaze was profound as she walked into the pitch-black palace, holding an imperial edict. Masked hidden guards rustled out from the darkness and prostrated themselves beside her. Her eyes were fixed on the throne that symbolized the pinnacle of power—it was the mire that corrupted people, but also the harbor that could grant them peaceful sleep…
No one expected such an open ending.
After the movie finished, the entire theater was silent. It was a long while before people started to discuss it.
“When I voted for her back then, I thought Zhao Qingyu was just a pretty face. Was I blind?”
“When she cried, my heart almost broke!”
“When she looked at me later, I thought she was going to kill me. My legs went weak from fear…”
…
These discussions were enough to prove Zhao Qingyu’s talent. Even the downcast Father and Mother Song were drawn into the plot. In the end, Father Song let out a long breath and patted Song Xuyi’s shoulder. “You have excellent taste. Your idol’s acting is superb. Her future is limitless…”
Song Xuyi lowered her head and smiled without looking up at her father, continuing to text Zhao Qingyu. “Finished the movie. It was super, super good. Qingyu, your acting is amazing. You’re definitely going to be a huge star…”
“But,” Song Xuyi couldn’t help but stick out a tentative little foot, “there’s one thing I don’t understand: when the female lead finally stood at the pinnacle of power and got her wish, was she happy?”
At the same moment, Zhao Qingyu was in a hospital room, watching the same movie with her mother—an audience of two.
Her withered and gaunt mother’s eyes lit up as she watched the screen, gesticulating wildly and acting along with the lines from the movie.
As she performed, her whole face seemed to glow. For a fleeting moment, she regained the beautiful elegance of her youth.
Her mother had once been the prettiest and most talented professionally trained student at the film academy. She was supposed to have had a future that shone with boundless radiance…
If she hadn’t met that man…
Zhao Qingyu turned off her phone and sat in the shadows, watching her mother, who was crazed and laughing and crying all at once. She let the dark emotions breeding in her heart gradually drown her…
She knew that, barring any accidents, this movie of hers would be a hit. Countless messages were probably flooding her phone right now. She was walking, step by step, down the path she had planned…
No one would have ever expected that she, who was never supposed to have been born, would make it this far.
But she had. And she would go further and further, step by step, seizing the reputation and money that the heartless man’s family cared about most, dragging them down into the mud to experience everything her mother had gone through…
And she, bearing their curses and her mother’s wish, would fly higher and higher with each passing day.
What a pity!
It was probably retribution: the heartless man had died a few years ago, and the old hag was already senile.
But the old hag’s precious grandson and daughter-in-law were still alive and well…
Only when the movie ended did Zhao Qingyu turn her phone back on.
As expected, the moment it powered on, countless missed calls and messages from friends flooded in.
This industry was just that realistic. Once you became a hit, it was a scene of great prosperity and excitement.10 Overnight, you gained countless ‘friends’ and could obtain wealth that ordinary people couldn’t earn in a lifetime.
But Zhao Qingyu didn’t lack for money.
Zhao Qingyu looked at her phone coldly, replying to the messages one by one until she saw an unread message in the chat window from Song Xuyi.
Right. It was that fake fan she had coaxed last night into promising to share her daily life.
Zhao Qingyu didn’t even realize that when she saw Song Xuyi’s message, the hostility radiating from her subconsciously receded a little. Her crazed mother ran over barefoot and crouched down beside her cautiously, stroking her thin back. “Nannan is happy, so Mom is happy too…”
“I’m not happy.”
Zhao Qingyu retorted with a stern face.
She looked at the photo of the donation certificate Song Xuyi had sent. Her brow twitched when she saw the large sum on it. Then she saw the chicken soup for the soul that followed and couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh. Telling me to be good? You might as well tell a wolf to go vegetarian…
Has this fake fan sensed something?
However, the question that followed was directed at her.
When she reached the pinnacle of power, was the female lead happy?
While acting, Zhao Qingyu had felt that the female lead was unhappy. Having lost all her loved ones and sitting alone on that high throne, how could she possibly be happy?
But for some inexplicable reason, she didn’t want to type out those words. It felt like a prophecy, foretelling her own life after she got her revenge.
Zhao Qingyu pressed her lips together tightly and slowly typed. The sound of her fingers tapping the screen was loud, as if to prove the resolve in her heart—
【Whether she’s happy or not, only the one whose wish has been fulfilled will know!】
LP: Re-translated on December 6, 2023
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